<p>To get a head start, I was wondering what I could do to improve my chances early on of getting into a nice college as I start high school. I would like to get in to a good university, hopefully one in the northeast U.S. My grades have always been stellar and, while I'm not saying it will be easy, I think I will be at the tip-top of my class if I stay at the school I am going to now. My SAT's will probably be one of the best parts of my transcript; I am a great test taker, and my previous scores indicate that my future scores will be excellent. However, there are some areas that need a good bit of work. My EC's for example. I don't know what to do, honestly. My interests are politics, writing about politics, debating, quiz bowl, and I am on the cross country team. How do I turn my other interests into impressive EC's? We have a debate/ quiz bowl team at my school, but they aren't good and rarely compete. However, I will probably try and join with the hopes of making them better. I have read countless posts that have said to get on a winning team at your school and win lots of medals, etc.. but there just aren't any winning teams at my school. So how do I get involved in good EC's? Also my school doesn't offer a many ap courses and it only offers 3 years of spanish, and no other foreign languages. I will take the most rigorous schedule I can, though. Please give me tips on how to improve in areas I am lacking!</p>
<pre><code> Now that you know a little about my situation, what are some colleges that you think might be good for me? For the time being, making a lot of assumptions and guesses, lets say my SATs are 2250, my GPA is 4.0, and I am in the top 5 percent of my class. Obviously, I can't tell you about my EC's. I would like to major in Political Science or International Relations.
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<p>So, I would like to know what steps I should take throughout high school, what EC's I should get involved in based on my interests, and what colleges might suit me if I can improve some areas of my transcript. Please help!</p>